Supplies: large basin filled with water. towels. lamb cookies (I ll include how I made ours at the end) or lamb. matzah bread.

Transcription

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2 All the way back to when God was giving Adam and Eve the consequences of their sin God has kept his eye on the cross. We see evidence of this all throughout the Old Testament, and God foreshadowed the cross and Jesus sacrifice when He created Passover. This lesson is designed to show your students and family how Passover points to Jesus. If you are doing this in a Sunday school setting try to have someone holding kids at the door so you can collect them in small groups to start them through the stations. Supplies: large basin filled with water towels lamb cookies (I ll include how I made ours at the end) or lamb matzah bread grape juice, cups

3 Station 1: Foot washing This station is to show the kids everyone is a servant. You ll need a small bucket of water and a towel to dry their feet afterwards. Take them to this station in groups of four or so. John 13:1-17 In Jesus time it was polite when a person entered your house to wash their feet. The roads were covered in filth and the lowest servant in a home was given that job. On the night Jesus was betrayed he knelt down and washed the feet of the disciples. He showed them no man was too important to serve others or anyone too low to be served. In Matthew 20:16 Jesus told the disciples the last will be first, and the first will be last to show them God s kingdom is going to work differently than those of the world. Think about how you should imitate Jesus.

4 Station 2: Passover Lamb This station is designed to show how God designed the Passover to point the Jews to the coming Messiah. If you are not having kids read the verses I have included them in the instructions Exodus 12 and selected passages Exodus 12:5 You must have an unblemished animal, a yearold male; you may take it from either the sheep or the goats. Exodus 12:13 The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will be among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. Luke 23:4 Pilate then told the chief priests and the crowds, I find no grounds for charging this man. John 1:29 Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

5 On Jesus final night with his disciples he celebrated the Passover with them. God had instituted the Passover for Israel to remember all God had done for Israel to give them a picture of what was to come. The Passover lamb was inspected by the whole family and was found to be found without fault (read Exodus 12:5 You must have an unblemished animal, a year-old male; you may take it from either the sheep or the goats.). It then lived with the family, so they came to know the lamb. Jesus lived with his disciples and was known by all of Israel he was examined by Pilate, Herod, and the priests and they could find no fault with him (read Luke 23:4 Luke 23:4 Pilate then told the chief priests and the crowds, I find no grounds for charging this man. ) The lamb was then to be sacrificed and its blood to be used to protect the Israelites from the coming judgement (read Exodus 12:13 The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will be among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.). Jesus died to take away the sins of the world (read John 1:29 Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.).

6 Station 3: Communion At this station you will be serving communion to the kids. This is from Luke 22: Then He took a cup, and after giving thanks, He said, Take this and share it among yourselves. For I tell you, from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of God comes. And He took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them, and said, This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me. In the same way He also took the cup after supper and said, This cup is the new covenant established by My blood; it is shed for you. In Exodus God called the Israelites to complete the Passover every year to remember what God had done. Jesus tells us to celebrate the Passover regularly to remember what Jesus did for us.

7 Station 4: Prayer Jesus thought prayer was so important he spent some of his final hours in ministry praying. We need to model this with the kids so they can see it. On the night Jesus was betrayed he went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. He left the disciples and went by himself to pray. He begged God to take this away from him. But God did not give him what he wanted and Jesus submitted to the father. In the Bible it says because of what Jesus did on the cross our sins are now as far as the East is from the West. God no longer sees them if we choose to believe what Jesus did on the cross. Take some time to confess your sins and to talk to God about what you want. Write those two prayers on separate sheets of paper. When you are ready put your sins into the box that will never be opened. Keep your prayer to remind yourself of praying to God for your desires.

8 Conclusion: Easter is for celebrating While the crucifixion is a somber event because of the magnitude of what Jesus did for us on the cross and it s sad because of the three days he was dead in the grave, Easter is a celebration. Jesus did not stay in the grave. Easter morning the tomb was empty. The women came to anoint him for his burial and Jesus was not there. This is a time to celebrate!

9 To make the sheep cookies you can buy a sheep cookie cutter, but I had a flower shape and an egg shape on hand, so here is another method you can try. Make your favorite sugar cookie recipe and roll out most of it and cut out with the large flower shape. Reserve about ¼ of the recipe and add cocoa powder to it. Knead until the mix is worked all through the dough. Roll the chocolate dough out and cut out the small egg shape. Frost the flowers and place the egg shape on top. If you have a tulip flower shape that works very well for a face also.